The A-Z of wine: H is for… Hunter Valley world wines Our alphabetical tour of the wine world continues with a trip Down Under to find a hidden gem in Hunter Valley What’s this then? A bit of a niche area this week, because it turns out that when you commit to the rigid structure of an alphabet-themed series there’s always one letter that throws a [...]
The A-Z of wine: G is for… Grenache, your secret favourite grape A-Z of wine What’s this then? Grenache is a red grape variety, until 2000 the second-most planted variety in the world. It’s most commonly associated with France but actually believed to have originated in Spain – so we should probably refer to it by its Spanish name, Garnacha. It’s capable of making ripe and juicy quaffers, hefting bruisers [...]
The A-Z of wine: F is for… Furmint, the wine variety of tomorrow world wine What’s this then? Furmit is an Eastern European grape variety, most commonly associated with Hungary but also grown widely in neighbouring Slovenia (where Napoleon’s army gave it the ‘c’est bon’ seal of approval that evolved into the grape’s alternate name, Sipon). If you’ve ever drunk the iconic sweet wines from the Tokaj region of Hungary [...]
The A-Z of wine: This week, E is for… England April 12, 2022 We continue to march through the alphabet in search of new wines and old favourites. What’s this then? A green and pleasant land bedeviled by internal strife caused by a single contentious issue – namely, what do you call a soft bread roll? Also home to a burgeoning wine industry fuelled by centuries of wine [...]
The A-Z of wine: D is for… Douro March 9, 2022 HOW DO YOU PRONOUNCE DOURO? doer-oh WHAT’S THIS THEN? An iconic, strikingly beautiful Portuguese wine region, best known for being the home to Port, the fortified wine that we all claim to love, yet usually only buy once a year. More specifically, the Douro is the wine region around the river of the same name [...]
The A-Z of wine: This week, B is for… Beaujolais February 10, 2022 How do you pronounce Beaujolais? Boh-zholl-ayy What’s this then? A French wine region, located between the city of Lyon and the southern end of Burgundy. Best known for making reds from the Gamay grape. It’s possibly a part of Burgundy, depending on who you talk to, although it’s usually considered part of ‘wider Burgundy’. The [...]
The A-Z of wine: This week, A is for… Assyrtiko January 21, 2022 How do you pronounce it? Ah-seer-tee-co What is it, then? A white grape variety from a land blessed with a beautiful Mediterranean climate, an age-old wine culture, and a wealth of native (and often unpronounceable) grape varieties that make genuinely outstanding wines. Also known as Greece. Best known for wines from the striking volcanic island [...]
